Laundering Dress Shirts

Westbank Dry Cleaning in Austin and our sister stores and Bibbentuckers in the Dallas Metroplex are staffed by dedicated and caring people. We carefully examine every Dress Shirt to understand the differences in fabric and manufacturer before it is laundered. Westbank Dry Cleaning understands that a clean, well-pressed shirt is an essential part of a perfect professional look. You never get a second chance to make a good first impression, and therefore, we strive to provide a fresh, laundered and well-pressed dress shirt every time and just the way you like it.

As part of our continued effort to tailor our service to our customer needs and desires, we are pleased to offer the best dress shirt cleaning in the Austin and Dallas area.

When you bring your dress shirt to Westbank Dry Cleaning, our professionally trained cleaners will launder it following the care labels on your shirt. All stains will be removed before it is washed. You can request to use or not use starch, as well as have it placed in a box or on a hanger. Whites will be white and the colors will be bright.

Environmental Chemicals

We successfully launder hundreds and hundreds of shirts every day. And our customers know that we are the best. However, expensive or inexpensive shirts can get worn out, and the chemicals to remove stains or launder the shirts can have an impact on the time that the shirt can be considered worn out. At Westbank Dry Cleaning, we use chemicals to remove stains and wash shirts that are the friendliest we can find. We want your clothing to last longer than predicted.

The Dry Cleaning & Laundry Institute reports that the average life expectancy of a dress shirt is about 35–50 washes, or about two years. But this estimate will fluctuate depending on the following:

Wear (Abrasion)

Stains

Fabric

Construction

Manufacturing

Chemicals used in stain removal and washing

Problems that are encountered in Dress Shirt Cleaning

In today’s global economy, dress shirts can come from lots of different continents. Problems can occur if one or more dyes in a multi-colored shirt are not colorfast. Bleeding can happen whether it is washed at home or by a laundry. When dye failure or bleeding occurs, the dress shirts should be returned to the retailer.

Puckering

When the collar and cuffs appear to have puckering, the problem can be that the interfacing is shrinking and this leaves excessive outer fabric. We can’t fix this problem and it is recommended that the customer return the dress shirt to the retailer as this is a manufacturer’s problem.

Dress Shirt Pinstripe Fading

On some dress shirts, it may appear that pinstripes have been bleached out. This happens when the pinstripe yard is dyed with fiber-reactive or sulfur-based dyes that lose their color with repeated laundering. This normally happens in the later stages of the life expectancy of a dress shirt.

Executive Shirt Tearing

It is not unusual to see the underarm’s tear in a dress shirt. The problem is directly related to the consumer and it’s about perspiration. If perspiration is allowed to stay in a shirt, it will eventually stain and degrade the fabric. Aluminum chlorides, an ingredient found in most antiperspirants weaken the fabric under the arms. Laundering each time after wearing the shirt one time can reduce this type of damage.

Dress Shirt Discoloration

Discoloration or gray or shiny specks on the shirt seams, collar, and cuffs, or placket occurs when the shirt manufacturer uses excessive and improperly applied adhesive to fuse interfacings with the outer fabric. If this happens, it will be noticed after the first washing. We recommend that the shirt be returned to the retailer.

Executive Shirt Shrinkage

Even the best of shirts will shrink. The good manufacturers create dress shirts that will shrink about two to three percent. When shrinkage occurs that make the sleeves to short, the neck too tight or the shirt too tight in the waist, it is usually the result of poorly stabilized fabric and other elements of construction. There is very little we can do, even as the experts that we are. Again we recommend that the shirt be returned to the retailer.